So Tones - where others see Nirvana you see one big Easter Island?
Parity my arse - we are in the lead now:
1.00 AUD = 1.01361 USD
So - you going long or short on usa$?
The commodities boom will not last forever. China has been buying everything out there and shows signs of slowing. When that happens, the commodity exporters' currencies will get hit, and the slowing in commodity prices will help the value-add countries.
Last edited by fxh (2011-02-09 19:56:29)
It does appear, at this stage, that the Arab street is more sussed than our masters would have us believe.
Both the USA and UK come out of this looking less than admirable, as they fawned over dictators, the most revolting and embarrassing action being the UK's recent complicit and spineless engagement with Gadaffi and his pawns.
Some interesting articles on Barclays bank corporate profit and tax today. Of interest to any revolutionaries in the Arab world as Barclays eschewed bail out money from the UK taxpayer as being beneath them, they took Arab bail out money instead:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/banksandfinance/8334317/Barclays-shocking-113m-tax-pay-out.html
Last edited by 4F Hepcat (2011-02-19 08:40:20)
Well, the learnings from Egypt & Tunisia are: if you are a dictator wanting to stay on, a soft approach and some early concessions is the worst thing to do... People have learned that they are going have to do it the Iranian way.
Bahrein is home to the 5th fleet, IIRC.
Gold was back above 1400 for the first time in a while yesterday.
gold? oil is back at almost-2008 prices
hopefully the US has the smarts to keep out of these mini-revolutions otherwise they'll create millions of terrorists not hundreds
whatever the western media tells us is probably out-of-touch, I would be inclined to trust al-jazeera and other regional sources more, I also think the heavy hand of the Bahrain and Libyan regimes will not necessarily save them but it will mean they all get hung instead of exiled
*****
looks like part of NZ tried to slide off into the ocean (6.5 richters), I know some people who just returned about a week ago from vacation there - good timing
There was a lot to compare Iraq under Saddam with Egypt - secular pan-arab but not Islamists, but muslim, decent educational structure including women, decent roads and other infrastructure and a reasonable set of structures for cultural and health systems. A reasonably stable federation of Shiites and Sunnis and the odd Christians, reasonably working federation of geographic areas and Kurds and such. Marred by Saddams brutality and nes/des-potism. It had the basics that could cope with a change of leaders or governments and not fall into chaos..
If the Coalition of the willing had left it alone but supported internal opposition to Saddam we would have seen him gone by 2005 - done internally.
A lot of black swans flying around lately, if Saudi goes, which I don't think it will, prepare for the four horses of the Apocalypse. Major war will swiftly follow. Iran's playing a game with sending the naval ships through the Suez and into the Med. Hmmm, be interesting of some submarine sank them.
No major war can really take place without the US blasting whoever it is to hell. Now, low grade guerilla / terrorism is another thing.
Personally, I think we should take back our oil, but I guess I'm in the minority here. ("We" as in the Western world, but it's largely the UK's if I'm not mistaken.)
Last edited by JDelage (2011-02-22 13:55:46)